Rami Hamdallah agrees to form new Palestinian gov't

Academic Rami Hamdallah announced on Sunday that he accepted a request from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to form the new Palestinian government and become the Prime Minister, following Salam Fayyad's resignation in April.

Palestinian Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday called on academic Rami Hamdallah to become the new Prime Minister and form the Palestinian government, AFP reported.

Hamdallah is the president of the Al Najah University in Nablus, West Bank and told reporters in Ramallah that had accepted Abbas' offer.

"President Abbas has asked me to form a new government and I have accepted", AFP quoted him as saying.

Abbas and Fayyad reportedly fell out over the financing of the Palestinian government.

"The government will be formed in the coming days," said Hamdallah, who is a veteran in the economic fields, as he has headed the Palestinian Stock Exchange, as well as the Central Election Commission.

"Most ministers of the outgoing government will stay and I will bring in a new finance minister," Hamdallah said. added.

Abbas belongs to the Fatah party[3], and in April, after Fayyad's resignation, it was announced that his party and their rivals Hamas would begin consultations over the new government.

"As long as Fatah and Hamas don't come to an agreement and set a new timetable for their consultations, it means president Abbas will have to charge a new individual with forming a new, regular Palestinian government," labour minister Ahmad Al Majdalani said earlier on Sunday, before Abbas made his announcement.

Last month, Fatah and Hamas agreed to set a three-month timetable for forming a unity government.

Establishing a unity government and holding elections was one of the aims of a reconciliation deal the two nationalist movements signed two years ago, but it has never been implemented, according to AFP.